Starry Eyed
by 18Rox
Summary: The people of Pulse and Cocoon lived in harmony until an anti-Pulse group started a war. Lightning Farron, Sergeant in the Guardian Corps before the war started, was sent to a hospital after she was severely injured. The nurse ordered to take care of her, Vanille, thought of Lightning as a normal patient but found out there was much more to the soldier than she originally thought.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hi there! So, I found this story somewhere on my hard drive and decided to put it up to see what people think. It's a little different.  
**

**I decided to call it Starry Eyed because I came up with the idea while I was listening to the song Starry Eyed by Ellie Goulding. Not sure how I got this out of that song but whatever.  
I'm not sure where I want to take this story yet. I can't decide if I want Light and Vanille to just develop a friendship or actually have a relationship...  
**

**Anyway, hope you enjoy it! **

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Gran Pulse and Cocoon. There was never a war between them. They lived in harmony. Pulsians living on Cocoon, citizens of Cocoon living on Gran Pulse. But, like all good things, it came to an end. An anti-Pulse group who called themselves _The Vipers_ caused a separation between them. On one side were those who were against the Pulsians and on the other were those who defended them. This tension led to a civil war between the Vipers and the Sanctum which caused Cocoon to become a war zone. Many volunteered to enter the war, not knowing how violent the war would become.

The war lasted for years. Explosions and destruction happened every day. People died every minute.

However, the war couldn't go on much longer because even the best of soldiers couldn't last forever.

XXX

Her body slammed to the solid concrete, the back of her skull almost cracking by the impact. Her half-lidded eyes were locked to gray filled sky through the shattered visor of her helmet. The sounds of bullets and explosions were muffled through her ears. She gasped for air, her body shaking. She felt like she was burning. She attempted to move but it was no hope. Her body refused to budge.

"Farron's down! Farron's down!" The words sounded so distance.

A large soldier scurried into her vision. His white uniform was covered in dirt, the grey shoulder pads scratched and damaged. The name _Villiers _was stitched on a patch on the breast of his jacket. Reaching up with his grey gloved hands before throwing his gray helmet aside, revealing the blonde spiky locks matted to his head.

Snow.

His eyes widened, panic filling them as he knelt down next to her. Never in her life had she seen him so…afraid?

"Light! You're smoking!" He shouted, dropping his gun to pat down her burning uniform with his gloves.

He froze, his eyes scanning over her body. "Oh my god…"

He reached towards her head, attempting to take her helmet off. However, it did not come off as easily as it should of.

Lightning watched him as he tugged on the helmet with more force. What was the problem? Why was her helmet stuck?

When he began to take it off, she could feel pieces of the inside of the headgear peeling off her face. She cried out in pain, clenching her fist tightly, as her burned skin was exposed to the air.

"Sorry, Light. Just a little more…" She could hear Snow say faintly.

Her fist turned almost white as Snow lifted the helmet from her head, her face visible.

She screamed as the pain from her severe wounds finally hit her. She was definitely burned. Badly. One of her eyes was blurred but she couldn't tell which. She was in too much pain to figure it out. She lost feeling in her left arm. She couldn't even tell if it was still there.

Through her cloudy vision, she could see Snow wiping his eyes.

"Sis…how could I let this happen to you?" He muttered.

"…Sn..o..w…" She panted out, trying to say more but nothing else could escape from her lips.

It was then when she felt her body becoming numb and the pain beginning to vanish. Her eyes grew heavy.

A jolt traveled through her body as Snow grasped her shoulder. His water eyes stared intently into her glassy ones.

"Stay with me, Light. You are not dying. I'm going to get help."

He climbed to his feet.

"Villiers! Get down!"

Snow's head snapped back as a bullet pierced his skull.

Time seemed to slow for Lightning.

Her wide eyes watched as Snow's body fell backwards, collapsing to the ground next to her. She could feel the blood seeping from his body soaking into her uniform.

"…Sno..o…w…" She clamped her eyes shut, not believing what just happened.

Snow was dead.

Her brother-in-law was dead, killed right in front of her…when she could do nothing about.

She took in a breath of air; breathing becoming much more of a struggle.

Was this really it?

Was this how she was going to die?

She promised Serah she would come back. Her and _Snow_ promised. She couldn't leave her alone. She couldn't die.

But, it looked like she didn't have much of a choice at this point.

Her mind began to fade and her heart beat slowed.

_Sorry, Serah._

She took one last look into the sky before her vision blurred and her eyes shut, only darkness before her.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi guys! I tried to update quickly since people seemed to really like the prologue. Hope you like the chapter and don't forget to review to tell me what you thought about it! :) **

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Starry Eyed

Chapter 1

"Vanille!"

An orange-haired head popped up from the nurse desk upon hearing her name, making the woman visible from over the counter. Her curly pony-tails bounced and her various necklaces and bracelets clanked from her sudden movement.

"Yes?" She responded, her Pulsian accent strong.

The doctor handed her a patient chart which she quickly grasped. "Keep an eye on my patient; I'm kind of swamped here."

He was right.

The Paddra military hospital was a bit of a mess at the moment.

For the last few weeks, they had been getting more and more wounded soldiers. So many that they even had to move less severe patients to other hospitals. As much as they wanted to, they just didn't have enough beds to treat them all.

This increased number of wounded soldiers only meant things weren't going so well back on Cocoon. More people were dying. More people were getting critically injured. Cocoon was becoming more of a wasteland.

The war had been going on for four years and hasn't shown any signs of stopping.

It seemed as if the Sanctum had the upper hand but, lately, that didn't seem like the case.

If they lost, then what? The Vipers would come to Gran Pulse and murder all the Pulsians they could find. They would probably start killing people from Cocoon as well.

It would be a massacre.

That couldn't happen.

But, regardless of what was happening on Cocoon, it was the hospital's job to keep as many people alive as possible. That was their only concern.

Vanille nodded at the doctor as she flipped open the chart and skimmed it.

_Name: Lightning Farron  
Gender: Female  
Age: 22_

_Injuries: 3__rd__ degree burns, loss of eyesight in right eye, amputated left arm from elbow._

_Cause: Bomb explosion followed by a two story fall to the ground.  
_

Even though she was a nurse, Vanille hated to see patients with injuries such like these. People like this can never live their lives the same. The war left them permanently damaged; a constant reminder of what they went through.

Vanille's yellow, fur wrapped boots came to a stop when she reached the door. She gave it a few knocks before informing the patient she was entering the room.

"Coming in."

Opening the door, her eyes glanced to the bed where a pink-haired woman lied, slightly upright with her arm at her side. Her odd pink hair fell down the sides of her face, a spiky bang sweeping across her forehead. A large patch covered half her face, her damaged eye not visible.

Her amputated arm hung closely to her side, covered in layers of bandages. Healing burns covered her other arm.

Lightning didn't pay Vanille any heed when she walked in. It was as if she didn't hear her. She just continued her gaze out of the window with her lone blue eye.

Taking a breath, Vanille stepped fully into the room. She walked in front of the bed, flipping open the chart again. As she gazed at the chart, checking what medicine her patient was on and such, her eyes glanced up at Lightning.

She smiled brightly. "Hi, Lightning! My name's Vanille. Nice to meet you!"

Silence. Lightning didn't even look her direction.

Vanille sighed disappointedly. "Alright…I guess you don't want to talk…" She followed Lightning's gaze out the window. Behind the glass was a view of the modernized city of Paddra.

Ever since Cocoon became the main location of the war, everyone moved to Gran Pulse to seek refuge. The hospitals for the soldiers were stationed on Gran Pulse to avoid any attacks.

Soon, they discovered the Paddra ruins. The city had been uninhabited for centuries. So, because the Cocoon citizens needed a place to go, they changed Paddra from ruins to a city that could actual flourish with people.

New buildings were built, governments were created, and resources were found.

It was like an entirely new place.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Vanille said, taking in the view.

As expected, a word never left Lightning's lips.

"Oh!" Vanille exclaimed, looking back at Lightning. "I forgot to tell you. I'm going to be looking after you from now on. So, I'll be here every day…" She pointed her finger at her patient. "…whether you like it or not!"

Lightning glared at her from the corner of her eye.

Vanille flinched slightly at the soldier's cold gaze. Scary. Well, at least she got some kind of emotion out of her. The nurse grabbed the chart, checking to see her eating schedule. "Let's see…When was the last time you ate?"

She saw that it was just about time for her to eat again. Placing the chart down, she clapped her hands together with enthusiasm. "Alright. I'll be right back!"

XXX

The door opened slowly as Vanille walked back inside the room with a tray of food in her hands. There wasn't much on the plate, only a piece of bread and an apple. Lightning's chart said that she didn't eat very much, which didn't surprise Vanille. Her thin appearance showed just how little she ate.

Lightning's eye darted to the nurse as she stepped closer.

Vanille sat the tray on the table next to the bed. She grabbed a chair and placed it near the bed before taking a seat. She glanced at Lightning, who made no movement towards the food. She sighed. That was expected. Looks like she had to resort to desperate measures…

Lightning's eyebrow rose slightly as Vanille held a chunk of bread in front of her face.

"What are you doing?"

The nurse blinked, not expecting to hear Lightning's somewhat raspy voice. She didn't think she would ever get her to talk. Vanille continued to stare, not realizing how ridiculous she looked. She held bread in front of Lightning's face like one would do to a child. All that was missing what the, "Come on, Lightning! Eat it!"

Vanille snapped out of her daze before lowering her hand and laughing nervously. "Ah…sorry."

Lightning's eyes narrowed, returning her gaze out the window. "I'm not hungry."

Growing serious which didn't happen often, Vanille stood up with a frown. "You have to eat! You aren't helping yourself get out of here any faster, you know!"

Lightning's fist clenched, her eye glancing down. "There's nothing out there for me anyway."

Vanille's stern expression faded. "You don't have any family?"

The soldier thought about her sister: Serah. She was trying to become a teacher before the war started. Lightning forced her to move to Gran Pulse with the others to ensure she was safe when the war began. She would call her whenever she could, checking if she was ok. She promised her she would come back alive – Her and Snow.

Images of Snow being shot flashed in her mind. The bullet piercing his skull. His body dropping next to her. His blood seeping under her.

Lightning's eye widened as she jumped slightly, her fist clenching to the point it when it turned white.

Taken back by her reaction, Vanille's eyes widened before she inched closer to the distressed woman to help. "Hey, Lightning. Just calm down."

However, this did nothing to relax the woman. Like many of the soldiers, Lightning seemed to have PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. They all have seen things that they cannot un-see, things that always come back to haunt them.

There were always certain triggers that sent patients back to an event that traumatized them. It could be a word or an object - something that reminds them of the horrible thing that they witnessed or experienced.

Vanille's hand hovered above Lightning's back, hesitating to touch her.

PTSD patients were very unpredictable. The soldier might think she was back on Cocoon and try to choke her. Anything could happen.

But, she was going to take the chance.

Lightning flinched when Vanille rested her hand on her back.

"Breathe, Lightning."

The soldier's body became less tense as she took a deep breathe, coming back to reality. Her fist relaxed, her shaky fingers spreading out. Her eyes danced around the room, realizing where she was.

Feeling something on her back, Lightning glared at Vanille who quickly removed her hand.

"Sorry, just trying to help!" Vanille said, waving her hands up as she smiled nervously.

Lightning huffed at the woman, looking away. "Whatever…"

Vanille sighed before she glanced at her watch. She had been here with Lightning longer than she anticipated. She had other patients to check on.

Picking up the chart, Vanille headed for the door. She looked back at Lightning who stared out the window with a scowl on her face.

She smiled slightly. "I have to go but I'll be back tomorrow."

"Great…" she heard Lightning mutter under her breath with sarcasm.

Ignoring her comment, Vanille said "goodbye" cheerfully before she headed out the door and closed it shut to attend to her other patients.


End file.
